I recently received a hand me down 1998 Oldsmobile Bravada.
I recently had an oil change at a mass market place and the technician told me that my stabilizer bar was broken. Which was not unexpected as right before I took possession of the car I was warned that there were issues with the suspension system. I know this needs to be repaired and want to address it quickly, however I have a couple of questions.
1) How much should a repair like this cost?
2) Is it possible to continue to drive this vehicle safely in the short term?
Obviously I don’t want to spend a lot of money but I also want to stay safe. Any advice or guidance is appreciated.
You don’t say if this is in the front or rear. Most likely (be it either front or rear) it is a sway bar link that is broken, although it is possible for the actual bar to be broken. It would worry me quite a bit if the actual bar was broken as these are pretty strong pieces and it would take a good hit to break one. I will not say “drive on” with any suspension component broken, but I would not walk over it either.
A broken front sway bar or link can give the rear end an annoying tendency to swap places with the front suddenly and unexpectedly, on a slippery road.
I speak from experience.
Thanks.
It was the sway bar link that was broken.
The sway bar links have been replaced and I will say the handling is much tighter.
The repair total was roughly $100.
That’s not a bad price at all. Glad you had the work done - you’ll be safer.